Exploring the Possibilities…
by JS
Summary: This is a Carter fic. It brings up the question on what would happen if you could explore all the possibilities.
1. This is your life?

  
Note: While I've written for other fandoms I have finally gotten the courage to write

my first ER fanfic! Any comments will be appreciated. Also apologies for the amount

of time for an update on this story.Unfortunately college and applying to veterinary school

takes a big chunk out of your free time. Hoping to finish this over winter break.

Note: This story is set to take place exactly one year after "Be Still My Heart".   
  
Disclaimer: ER and its characters are the property of John Wells, Michael Crichton,   
Amblin Entertainment and Constant C Productions. Alas I do not own them but one 

can pretend can't they?  
  
Exploring the Possibilities...  
  
  
Carter sat in the lounge with an impressive pile of charts. Glumly he sat and counted  
them. Yep, there were 12 for him to go over. He sighed; it was going to be a very long day

for him. If he had to pick one thing that he hated most about his job he would pick going

over the charts. He liked to work with his hands and be in the action, not sitting in this silence 

all by himself with a pile of paper. That's maybe why he could never see himself going into 

business. He never could see it as being exciting or fulfilling. All of those things were

provided to him in Cook County's ER. True, his chosen profession had caused him a lot of

grief, but all in all he deemed it worth it. All that is except for Lucy's death. If he could of 

known somehow that if he had never went into medicine it would of prevented Lucy's death

then he would have never pursued it. But he doubted it would have changed things. Beside

what else would have done if he hadn't gone into medicine? Maybe he could have been a

science teacher, an engineer, or a chemist! Hmm a teacher? No, kids were too crazy nowadays 

and his parents would have really balked at that! An engineer... he never did like calculus.

A chemist? He could see himself accidentally mixing the wrong chemicals and blowing up

the building.   
  
Startled he felt the couch dip and he looked over to his left. He had been so engrossed in  
his thoughts that he had not noticed Abby walking into the lounge.   


"Penny for your thoughts" she said smiling softly at him. She looked tired and he   
remembered that she had a double shift yesterday and was scheduled for another one

today. A tough break for the sleepless.  
  
"Just doing some charts" he replied lamely and gave a nervous laugh. He knew he must have  
been staring blankly at the wall in front of him for at least fifteen minutes. Time flies, when   
you are trapped in your head.   
  
Suddenly as things do happen in the ER, Chuny ran into the lounge and looked over to   
Carter and Abby. "Two MVA's coming in five minutes, we need you and Abby to take one"; 

she said and then rushed out.  
  
  
"Well so much for your wool gathering. Lets go Carter" Abby said as she got up and looked

over at Carter. "You coming?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go" he said and finally got up and headed over to receiving to wait for the   
chaos.  
  
Twenty bloody minutes later they were able to get the man stable and sent off to the OR.   
Carter reluctantly stripped off his soiled lab coat and headed back to the lounge where his   
charts waited for him. He was due for a lunch break and decided to grab some of them and 

head over to Doc Magoo's. He got his coat out of the locker and searched for a few minutes

for his discarded gloves. He was always loosing them after chucking them thoughtlessly in

the beginning of the day to the back of the locker. Finally he found the errant gloves and 

was on his way to a not so stellar but not so bad lunch. Doc Magoo's always fell into the 

middle zone where one couldn't complain that loudly about the food but neither would they

ever recommend the food to   
their patients.   
  
Carter began to cross the street when he heard a screeching sound getting quite loud in  
his ears. He whipped his head around and his eyes went wide for a split second. A car 

was coming straight at him, only inches away now. Before he could react, he felt his legs

impact with the bumper and his body being sent onto the roof of the car. His arm hit the 

windshield, forcefully breaking it and sending shards of glass into his arm. He cried out in

pain as the car jerked to a sudden stopped and the momentum took him flying into the air 

from off of the hood. For a minute he felt weightless, flying through the air. The black 

pavement was getting closer and closer and then distantly he heard a crunching noise, the 

impact of his body. Strangely it didn't even really register and then all there was, was black.  
  
He could feel himself scrunching his eyes closed tightly. There was some noise in the   
background. He opened his eyes and for a minute felt disoriented. He was sitting at a desk

and in front of him there seemed to be twenty some adolescents staring at him. He closed

his eyes and opened them again but they were still all there sitting at their desks, looking all

a little concerned now.  
  
"Mr. Carter are you ok?" asked a young girl from the row in front of him. He looked   
dazedly at him. He then looked behind him and surely enough there was a blackboard. 

"What is going on here?" he asked himself.  
  
"Don't you mean Dr. Carter?" he asked the young girl nervously. Maybe he had some

kind of amnesia and he was at this school for career day or something.  
  
"What? I thought you just had a master's degree. Were you working on a Ph.D. and didn't  
even tell us?" she asked surprised. Murmurs were going on in the classroom now.  
  
"Uh no, will you please excuse me for a minute?" he asked quickly rushing out of the   
classroom, into the hallway in order to get some fresh air and figure out what exactly

was going on. He spotted a man wearing all black and a trench coat coming his way.

Something about the man seemed familiar as he came closer.  
  
"Ah John Carter, you probably don't remember me but I was in charge of caring for you   
during your time with us in February" the man said holding out his hand for Carter to

shake.  
  
What?" Carter sputtered while shaking the man's hand.  
  
"You almost didn't make it there son but I helped you to negotiate with some of the   
influential to go back and well here you are and in my service again son. It seems like

you have a interest in exploring the possibilities or am I mistaken?" he asked and Carter

suddenly felt very chilled.  



	2. Moving On

Previously..  
  
"You almost didn't make it there son but I helped you to negotiate with some of the 

influential to go back and well here you are and in my service again son. It seems like you 

have a interest in exploring the possibilities or am I mistaken?" he asked and Carter

suddenly felt very chilled.  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"No, I mean yes! I've always wondered but this is ridiculous. Things like this don't happen! 

I have to wake up, you're just dreaming Johnny! I can close my eyes and I'll wake myself 

up" he muttered and closed his eyes. He opened them up again but the strange man was 

still in front of him. "Oh god I'm not dreaming," he thought with a moan.  
  
"No you're not dreaming John and before you ask, yes your other reality still exists. I will  
give you a week in this reality and then we will move onto the next until you want to stay 

in one or go back to the one you came from" the man explained hoping he would

understand. Carter blinked at him dazedly. Could he trust this stranger? What if he just

told him that he wanted to go back now? Did he want to throw away this opportunity?

Not really he decided. Suddenly a thought came to him.  
  
"And Lucy?" he asked hope gleaming in his eyes. Was she alive in this reality? Did he

know her here? What about his other colleagues? Where they in different professions? 

Briefly he imagined Benton working as a party clown and smiled.  
  
"That is what your week here is for. That should give you enough time to figure out how 

your life is here and about the people you knew in the life you just came from. I can't tell 

you more than that. Just remember that I will be back in a week. Oh yeah, almost forgot, 

this is your address plus some additional information so that you don't seem to act too 

oddly to the people around you" he said while handing Carter some papers with typed 

print on them. With shaking hands Carter took them from and started to leaf through

them. Suddenly a bell and students started to pour out into the hallway that he was 

standing in. He went to look over at the strange man but he was gone.  
  
"Great, just great" he grumbled and looked around to see where the students were filing

off to. With relief he noticed that most of them where opening their lockers and putting

coats on. That meant luckily that his workday was over and he could have some time to

figure out what exactly he was going to do now. He saw a door across the hall that was

marked as the teachers lounge and decided to go in.  
  
"Hey John, rough day?" a petite red head who looked to be in her fifties asked while 

drinking a cup of black coffee.  
  
"Uh yeah I guess you could say that" he said and smiled at his own personal joke. He

had to watch himself or he would start to think himself mad. He went over to the coffee 

machine in the corner and picked a mug that he thought might be his and poured himself

a cup. Awkwardly he made his way over to a table as far as he could from what he 

assumed was another teacher. Sighing he began to look over the papers that the

mysterious stranger had given him. Hrmm... he had a small house in the suburbs, a 

dog, and taught molecular biology at Franklin High School. Wait there was more.

He was...married!  
  
"Wow" he muttered and continued through the papers. It told him he owned a Yugo..

uck.. and that it was parked in the back lot and that he would find the keys in his coat

that he had left in the classroom. He was still a graduate of Chicago University but not

that of medicine. And finally there were lists of names. Next-door neighbors on left 

Laura and Eric, to the right just Joe with a little girl Leah. Best friend was just named 

as Jenkins and his wife's name was Stephanie. He wondered if it was the same 

Stephanie that had dated as an undergrad. He remembered having broken up with because 

she was always trying to control him.   
  
Carter finally decided it was time to go check out his new house. He walked to the 

classroom that he had departed from earlier and collected his coat and what looked to be 

his bag. It was a ratty looking thing. It was then that he also noticed his clothes, they 

weren't that great either. He shrugged and went off to look for the Yugo.  
  
As Carter pulled into the sub he suddenly realized that it was the same neighborhood that   
Peter Benton's family's house was in. As he got closer to the house that was marked as his

he found out that the Benton family was only three doors down! He didn't know whether 

or not they would still be there or not. His self question however was answered as he pulled

up the drive and saw Peter come out of the house. He didn't know what to do. Did this 

Peter know him? Should he go up and find out?  
  
  
To be continued....


	3. Morning Mishaps

Previously...  
  
As Carter pulled into the sub he suddenly realized that it was the same neighborhood that   
Peter Benton's family's house was in. As he got closer to the house that was marked as his

he found out that the Benton family was only three doors down! He didn't know whether 

or not they would still be there or not. His self-question however was answered as he pulled

up the drive and saw Peter come out of the house. He didn't know what to do. Did this Pete

know him? Should he go up and find out?  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
He decided to take the chance and go talk to him. He quickly parked the Yugo and ran 

towards Peter. Peter simply gave the John the oddest expression. John ignored the looked

and continued to run up to him. "Dr. Benton!" John yelled as he approached him panting 

for air from running.   
  
"Do I know you?" Peter asked puzzled starting to question the man's sanity. He looked 

fairly young and slightly familiar.  
  
"Um, I think so. I live three houses down from you" John replied nervously and felt 

disappointed that he didn't recognize him. He stalled not sure what to say. "I've umm...

talked to your mother before and she mentioned you to me before. I just thought I'd 

make a proper introduction. Yeah, I'm John" he finished lamely by holding out a hand, 

which Peter didn't shake.  
  
"Yeah man, uh nice meeting you or something. Look I've got to go to work but it

was nice talking to you" Peter said and then rushed off to his car.   
  
"So much for that" John said and started to make his way to his house nervously. 

What if his wife was home? He made his way up the steps to the slab house and 

searched his pockets for keys. As he was about to turn the key to get in the door was 

yanked open and the keys were jerked from his hand and now hanging from the door 

knob. He was confronted with a very unhappy looking woman. He stood there shocked. 

She was definitely the Stephanie from his college days but an older version. Frown 

wrinkles marked her forehead and her hands were place firmly upon her hips.   
  
"You forgot didn't you! I can't believe this, all I ask you to do is pick up the groceries on   
the way home from work. This is the third time you've forgotten. If you think you're 

going to get any dinner tonight you're sourly mistaken mister" she ranted and all Carter

could do was stare at her in disbelief. "Well just don't stand there, get your lazy butt 

in here" she muttered and dragged him into the house. In awe he took the state of the 

inside of the house. It was an absolute mess. There were papers scattered about the floor.

From what he could see of the kitchen from his vantage point he was mildly terrified.   
  
"Yeah I forgot I'm sorry honey," he said trying to put his most sympathetic tone into it.

She didn't seem to notice his apology and continued to rant about the state of the house 

and how she had to work until 8 the next day in the realtor office.   
  
"You know what, how about I go to the grocery store right now?" he asked and Stephanie 

simply made a shooing motion with her hands. He quickly exited the house and gave a sigh 

of relief. How was he going to deal with this? As he began to drive he realized that he had

not a clue what he was supposed to buy. He decided since he was out he might as well do

some investigating. He made a sharp U turn and headed towards Cook Country General. 

On the way he tried to come up with a plausible reason why he would be there.  
  
As he walked into the ER he noticed that things didn't look all that different. A couple of   
familiar nurses rushed past him. He still didn't think of any reason why he was there he 

Decided to wing it. He made his way up to the front desk and noticed that Randi wasn't 

at the front desk but some lady he had never seen before. When he asked to see a Dr. 

Lucy Knight the reception lady gave him an odd look. She told him that no one by that

name worked there. Disappointed he made his way out and to a pay phone. Pulling out 

his information sheets he found the number to his house. After some screeching from 

Stephanie on the other line he found out what he was supposed to buy and made his way 

to the grocery store.  
  
He shuffled exhausted and sore into the classroom. He got little sleep on the uncomfortable   
ancient couch last time. All was not well in this John's paradise that much was obvious. As

he sat down at the desk he suddenly realized he didn't even know what the lesson plan was. 

He was in for it today. He had to teach four classes today all with the same material. 

Shouldn't be that hard right?  
  
Soon teenagers were piling into the small room. He didn't know how they were all going

to fit but they did and filled it with a deafening hum of conversation. He tried to clear 

his throat to get their attention but they continued on with their conversations. He sat there

in silence for a while longer and yet they persisted. Soon loosing patience he pounded his

fist against the desk and they all turned to stare at him. "Can anyone tell me what chapter

we left off with yesterday?" he asked quietly. "You will not be intimidated by pimple 

covered teens" he continued to chant to himself in the back of his head.   
  
He was half way through his day and this were going considerable well when suddenly 

he heard a gun shot. He scrambled under his desk and ordered the students do the same. 

There were sounds of a struggle out in the hallway and then someone came into the room.  
  
"Its okay kids. I'm an undercover cop here at the school and luckily no one was hurt.

One of your classmates that we have been investigating has been put into custody. We

have called your parents to come pick you up and they should be here shortly. You've all

been dismissed for the rest of the day" he said and exited to go inform the other classes.

Carter stiffly got out from under his desk and watched the other teenagers file out. This 

was just plain crazy he thought to himself.  
  
The week went by quite uneventful, that is if you account for him spending it avoiding his  
angry wife and trying to handle spastic teenagers. Also the only thing he could find out 

about Lucy was that she had dropped out of med school her third year at Cook County.

After she dropped out no one had heard from her since. When the stranger came back he

decided this was definitely not where he wanted to stay. For all he knew Lucy could be 

dead here to.   
  
To be continued..  
  



	4. Sad Awakenings

Previously..  
  
"That cut looks really deep. I think you should go get stitches. It doesn't seem to want to  
stop bleeding. I'll tell Bill what happened and I'm sure that he will understand if you are

Few hours late. You can always make up for the missed hours with overtime," she 

laughed and Carter just nodded his head and took her offered handkerchief to stem some

of the blood.  
  
"Yeah um thanks," he stammered realizing he didn't even know her name. It was

obvious they were co-workers.  
  
"No prob, I'll see you in that meeting at 5 right about the new antenna design right?' she

asked and he only nodded and started to make his way back to his car and to Cook County 

to get stitches.  
  
"I must be a magnet for that place," he thought to himself as he roared up the engine and  
screeched out of the parking lot.  
  
  
  
Carter once again approached the front desk searching for familiar faces. He saw Dave and 

was about to shout when a clipboard was shoved at him and a quick explanation to fill out 

his insurance information and previous medical history was given. Defeated he ok a seat in

the chairs and was surprised at how quiet this alternate Cook County seemed to be. There 

seemed to be no chaos. It was a Monday, so it could be one of those rare 'its so quiet lets 

race wheelchairs' type day. So far from his vantage point he saw Malucci and that was it.  
  
Finally an hour after he had turned in his information, is name was called. He looked up

and saw a nurse that he did not recognize. He followed her to curtain one and let her take 

his blood pressure and temperature. He was then told to wait until the doctor came to check 

him out. He waited for a half-hour while listening to a little boy and a mother a curtain over. 

It seemed the kid had food poisoning and couldn't stop vomiting. He plugged his nose and 

chuckled at what unfortunate doctor got to handle that one. Hopefully whoever it is 

didn't dress their best today. Finally he heard the curtain being pulled back and smiled 

at whom he saw.  
  
"Hi, I'm Dr. Chen and I'll be looking at your cut today. Can you tell me when you hit 

your head?" Jing Me asked as she took out her penlight and began her exam by first 

checking out for normal eye dilation. While it was slim there was a chance with any

injury to the head for a concussion.  
  
"Deb!", Carter exclaimed as her followed the pen light with his eyes and then blushed 

as he realized what he had just said. He was going to have to think fast to cover this one

up.  
  
"Excuse me?? Do I know you?" Jing Me asked a little taken back by hearing her old name 

from a stranger.  
  
"Um, uh yeah I remember you from college. We took organic chemistry together?" he

said thinking fast remembering a tale that she related to him about her second awful 

semester of Organic Chemistry with the ancient professor, Dr. Reush.  
  
"Oh wow. I'm sorry I don't remember you. That was quite some time ago. I can still

remember how awful the instructor was however. ", she said sincerely while she began 

to clean up his cut and prep it for stitches.  
  
"Yep, mean old eccentric Dr. Reush, how we loved him so", he smiled glad to even banter

about something he wasn't even involved in with someone familiar from his own world.  
  
"Well after I put in a few stitches you'll be good as new. So what did you end up doing after

you got of college?. Unfortunately I haven't kept in touch with many people from the old 

days." she asked.  
  
"Well I actually got into engineering. I'm currently working over at the Motorola 

Company. In fact I have a friend here I think. I myself have been bad with keeping up 

with friends. She was training to be a doctor last I heard. I think she was actually 

studying here believe it or not. I thought while I was here I might drop her line. Maybe 

you know her. Her name is Lucy Knight?" he inquired trying to sound a casual as possible.  
  
Jing Me gasped and a flint of sadness swept her face. John felt his heart plummet with the 

thoughts of why Lucy's name invoked such a response from Deb. "Oh I'm so sorry Mr.??

I never did get your name?  
  
"It's John, John Carter"; he said offering his hand for a shake for the first time. 

Jing Me accepted it and continued on with her explanation.  
  
"I'm afraid Lucy is in a coma Mr. Carter. A couple months ago she was attacked by a

patient here and was badly injured. We've asked the parents to give consent to take her 

off life support and have her be a donor but they won't budge. The possibility of her ever 

waking up is less than three percent.," she said hating to have to repeat such dismal facts 

once again to this Mr. Carter.  
  
"Oh, do you think I could still visit her?" he asked and Jing Me silently nodded and

offered to escort him. She finished up his stitches and they both made their way to 

the third floor.  
  
As John entered he had to fight back tears at the sight of Lucy. He thought that he 

would never get to see her again but there she was. She was hooked up to the usually 

rigors of life support and yet she still looked like a sleeping angel. He could see old scars 

of where her flesh had to be woven together but she was whole. He took a seat next to 

her and grasped her hand almost visioning the opening of her eyes. Yet there was no 

response and Jing Me could only leave at the look of sadness and loss in the stranger's 

face. She told him the visiting hours he could stay and then left. John could only stare 

mesmerized at his ex-student's lifeless face. This chance was so close. Lucy was alive

and yet she was not. He didn't know what to do. He had finally found her yet he had no 

way of knowing if she would even live. He even himself knew as well that even if she 

did snap out of this that it was likely that she would not be Lucy when she woke up. 

He could only pour out his frustration in tears and leave the hospital and see what else 

this world had to it. 


	5. To Give Life

Carter stifled a yawn through the meeting as an endless amount of diagrams and blue prints were pulled out and presented. He tried to ignore the mild throbbing ache of his head were his ten stitches now proudly resided. He noticed the blond that he ran into earlier was across the meeting table and was sending him worried looks. He could only wonder if there was something going on between them. He didn't remember reading anything about her in his file. 

Finally, the meeting ended and he somehow managed to squeak by without adding any comments or ideas of his own. He hoped that this wasn't the expected norm for him. Though he could chalk it down to them giving him a break due to his obviously visible injury. 

As he made his way out through the double doors a voice called him. He turned to look at the man who was obviously their boss and had done most of the talking throughout the meeting. 

"So John, you ready for the big move to headquarters down in Arkansas?" the big balding man asked while clapping him on the back. John nearly choked. 

"What?!?", he sputtered as he forgot to watch his actions. It suddenly dawned on him that that's what Gamma must have meant about an announcement to his parents on the answering machine this morning. Regaining some composure he tried to save face.

"Well funny you should mention Arkansas, it turns out that I've decided I really do prefer Chicago after all", he said while trying to give his most sweetly honest smile.

"That's too bad Johnny-boy contract's already been signed and they are expecting you next week. If you need any help with moving here's my moving agency card" Carter numbly accepted the card as a litany of "oh crap" went through his mind. Once again the blond smiled at him as he put away the card.

"I look forward to working with you in the new office John", she said as she passed by giving him a sly smile. He was starting to see why his alternate self would be moving to Arkansas. However, now with Lucy here in a coma he would have no way to keep track of her in Arkansas. He had a feeling if he was going to stay here he was heading the way of unemployment. It would be a first he thought with a smile.

Meanwhile in Dr. Carter's ER…..

"We've got sinus rhythm!" Deb shouted as they rolled the gurney into the ER.

"Good! Someone get me 15 cc's of epinephrine and 20 of antropine!" Mark shouted back as other people rushed in to help.

Chuny quickly ran to his side to pass him the syringes just as Susan walked by.

"Oh my god! What happened?" she asked, as she looked on stunned. She tried to imagine that this was how Deb must of felt when she saw John last year on Valentines Day. She couldn't help but stare at the smudge of blood on the corner of his mouth where Deb was now trying to intubate him. 

"Damn, his cords are all constricted. I need lidocaine!" Deb grunted as she adjusted her light. Soon enough the lidocaine was on board and she was in. "Got it! Putting him on 5 O2."

"Ok people we need an abdominal scan and we need to get him ready for a CAT scan. Judging by his pupil responses and this bump on the back of his head, it took the brunt of his collision. We need to rule out exactly how much damage has been done there. Also Susan if you could call up an osteopathic surgeon for his arm. We need to see what we can do about this compound fracture"; Mark sputtered off while doing mental calculations for the dosages that he would need.

"Hold on Carter we're going to get you through this", he muttered as they wheeled him to the scans…

Mark and Susan both looked at the scans in dismay as the osteopathic surgeon was evaluating his left arm.

"We need to call down and head surgeon. Look at all this pressure. If we don't get this relieved in the next hour he's going to have permanent brain damage for sure", Susan announced glumly. 

"We should also have him prepped for an abdominal exploratory, the scans indicate that he has internal bleeding there as well. I think we should call Benton. I think he'd like to be the one to do this", Mark added.

"Alright lets do it", Deb said with determination. There was no way that she was going to lose her friend now.

Back at the Motorola Company the next day…

Carter idly tossed his pencil in the air while he waited for someone online to make his or her move. Having no idea what he was supposed to be doing at work at the time he decided to play online chess. All he could do was think about Lucy. He had already decided that as soon as he got off work that he would go and visit. He didn't know how many other chances he would have and so far this was the best one shown to him

He knew that beyond this possible life there was probably only one more. After that he didn't know. Would he just go back to the life he was living if this whole trip through possibilities didn't work out? Somehow he had a feeling that it would be more complicated than that. It was just a sense of unease in the back of his mind. Once again he was rubbing his neck in a hopeless attempt to rid himself of the headache that he had been experiencing since the morning. 

Slowly the minutes melted away to hours and he felt it was safe enough to flee his cubicle and go to County. As he was making his get away he was stopped by Alice. He had finally figured out the blonde's name after over hearing some gossip over lunch break. 

"Leaving so early John? I thought you were going to help me with our next new dashboard specs?" she asked almost hurt. Carter panicked knowing there was no way he would be able to contribute anything to what she already had.

'Um, I'm going to have to get back to you on that tomorrow. Something's just come up with my Grandma and I need to see her right away", he explained quickly while opening the door and proceeding to shove himself halfway out. 

"Sorry to chat and run!" he shouted and jogged to his car. Alice just stood there in awe and wondered if the bump that he took to the head the other day effected him more than she originally thought. 

He sighed in relief as he saw the office building get smaller in his rearview mirror. He didn't know how people could stand desk jobs. He really did feel bad about running out but he really did have to see Lucy. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep later on that night unless he saw her again to make sure she was real. He even held onto the delusion that maybe if he visited her she would wake up.

As he passed by the gift shop on the second floor to ICU he decided to buy some flowers to bring her. He was instantly drawn to the sunflower bouquet and put him on this John Carter's Visa card. He would have to check and see the budget when he got home.

He passed familiar white plaster walls and blue raised signs as he made his way to her room. He once again mentally prepared himself to see her. His grip tightened on the bouquet as he opened the door. He was shocked to see not only Lucy there in her bed but also her mom talking to her at her bedside in one of the hospital chairs. 

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked while giving him a glance over. It was obvious that she was crying from the tear tracks down her cheeks. She futilely tried to wipe them away. 

"I was just here to visit Lucy. I just found out what happened to her. I was looking her up since I've been trying to get back in touch with old college friends. We went to school together", he said as he handed her the bouquet. "Here I brought them for her".

"Thank you. I'm Lucy's mother. I'm sure she would appreciate them", she said as she set the sunflowers on the windowsill next to Lucy's bed. She once again started crying.

"I'm so sorry. It's just that I think I've finally decided that this isn't what she would have wanted. Did you know Lucy very well back in school?" she questioned.

"We spent some time together for about a year. I can't say if this is what she would have wanted", he answered softly for he truly didn't know. Lucy never talked about what she would have wanted if she needed to be put on life support.

"You know what I think? I think she would have hated it. The idea of being in this room for a year hooked up to these machines. The doctor's say that if I let go I can save 4 people today, that my Lucy can save four people. What am I suppose to say to that when I know the odds are that she will ever wake up. I've a waited a year and she's still not coming back." Mrs. Knight choked out as Carter let her fall into his arms crying. 

To be continued…


End file.
